(Image of DVI Output on the back of your PC)

This weekend, I had the pleasure of hooking up my friend’s new 52″ Samsung LCD HDTV to his new gaming PC.

If you are like most people, you probably already know how to connect your PC to HDTV via an S-Video Cable.

Now, S-Video is perfectly fine for viewing your PC/laptop on your TV but it won’t give you “HD” resolution of 1080p, 1080i, or 720p.

Most S-Video outputs are only capable of producing upto about 1024×768 pixel resolution and that’s analog signals, meaning your signal will get somewhat affected by noise and not the best way to surf the web on your HDTV.

Now let’s say your TV is capable of HD AND you have DVI Outputs on the back of your PC as shown in the image above.

Then, provided you have a Video graphics card capable of 1080p (which means it can pretty much do 1920×1080 pixels on your HDTV), you will be able to get a perfectly crisp 1920×1080 pixels on your HDTV.

Now, to do this, you need a cable depending on how far your PC is from the HDTV.

The simplest way is to get a HDMI-M to DVI-M cable to connect the DVI side to the PC and HDMI to your HDTV.   Here’s a site I found that has really low prices on it. ($32 for 50 feet, I found a 5 foot cable at BestBuy for $60, don’t go there)

(HDMI-M to DVI-M cable)

Once you are connected, you should be able to surf the web pretty easily on your HDTV depending on how far you sit from it.

Here’s a re-cap of what I just told you in simpler terms:

• S-Video - 1024×768 Maximum resolution, Analog signals (suck)
• DVI (PC) to HDMI (HDTV) - 1920×1080 Maximum resolution, Digital signals (clean)

Required Hardware:

• DVI-capable Graphic Card
• HD-capable TV (HDTV)
• DVI(male) to HDMI(male) cable

Most people who have bought PC in the last couple years will probably have all the required hardware except the DVI to HDMI cable.   If that’s the case, I highly suggest you to buy one online.  Don’t buy retail, you will pay 3-5 times more for it.

There you have it, now you  know how to take full advantage of your HDTV and watch YouTube and other online videos crisp and clear.  Perhaps you are a genius already at this but for those of you who don’t know, I hope this helps you surf on your HDTV. (and take advantage over the crisp, clear 1920×1080 pixel screen)

Kipkay from Make shows us how to make a Scanner Camera with your flatbed scanner.  Above is a dog taken with the Scanner Camera.  Kind of a nifty way to make interesting images.

via make

In case you don’t know, there’s a program you can download that will let your Google Chrome Browser be updated with the “Dev” mode, which gets you updates as soon as they are available. In the “Beta” normal mode, updates will be delayed until they are considered “stable”.

Subscribing to the Dev channel

1. Download and run the Google Chrome Channel Chooser (http://chromium.googlecode.com/files/chromechannel-1.0.exe).
2. Click the circle next to Dev.
3. Click Update to save your choice.
4. Click Close.
5. In Google Chrome, click the wrench menu and choose About Google Chrome.
Note: On Windows Vista, updates from the About box require Service Pack 1. With 0.2.149.29 (the current release), on demand updates do not work in Vista SP1 if User Account Control is disabled.
6. Click Update Now to install the current Dev channel release.
7. Restart Google Chrome.

via Chrome Hacks

In case you have bought an ASUS Eee PC with Windows, there’s a special version of Ubuntu, customized just for the Eee PC models.

This allows you to install the Ubuntu on Eee PCs without too much headache as it has already been configured for the factory hardware.

Ubuntu Eee is not only Ubuntu optimized for the Asus Eee PC. It’s an operating system, using the Netbook Remix interface, which favors the best software available instead of open source alternatives (ie. Skype instead of Ekiga). Sounds great! How can I help out? Please consider contributing with knowledge or money. And while you’re at it, please become a fan on Facebook and add yourself to the map of users

Here’s some resources for Ubuntu Eee for all you Eee PC lovers:

Ubuntu Eee Official Site

How install Ubuntu Eee

Well, it took me all day to get all my sites running today, there’s was a massive DoS attack by some hackers I had to take care of.

With that cleared away, here’s how to make some inexpensive solar cell panels.

Mike Davis is an astronomer. To practice his hobby away from the light-pollution of cities, he bought some land in a remote part of Arizona. But there was a problem: No electricity…. But he’s a resourceful fellow. He built some home-made solar panels using inexpensive blemished and damaged solar cells from eBay!

via treehugger

Eee PC Hack - How to run Mac OS X on Eee PC!

Wow, someone has figured out a way to run Mac OS X on an Eee PC!  Of course, you cannot use your sound, WiFi, LAN, and pretty much anything of necessity but it’s cool simply due to the fact that you are running Mac OS X on a PC.

While many would question why you’d want to go to the trouble of installing OS X when there are many Windows and Linux distributions available out of the box? Maybe you’re looking for a challenge. Installing OS X on non-Apple hardware provides plenty of chances to flex those (very metaphorical) geek muscles.

via wired

As you know, WonderHowTo.com is a great DIY video site and here’s Top 10 Cool Electronic HOWTO Videos from the How To, Hack, DIY, Mods Video Site:

1) How to Make a Metal Detector from Radio and Calculator -KipKay the famous Maker shows us how to make a metal detector from your old radio and calculator.  This one is really similar to the aircraft band receiver KipKay makes by taking the radio dial to its limit.

2) Here’s what happens when you type “Find Chuck Norris” on Google. Someone decided to make a website that results 1st on Google search for “Find Chuck Norris”, funny.

3) How to Make your own Home Windows Media Center PC - Here’s a great way to make your own Windows Media Center PC for watching and recording some programs on your computer.

4) How to find the hidden Microphone boost on Realtek HD Sound Cards - Here’s how you can get 20dB Micphone boost on HD sound cards.

5) Here’s how to perform CPR on an infant baby. - This might be one of the most useful things parents need to know in order to save their baby in emergencies.

6) Photoshop Hack - Check out how to increase boob size using Photoshop.  This one doesn’t require any surgery and it might help you with your future Photoshop skills.

7) Solitaire Hack - Learn how to win the Solitaire game on Windows XP or Vista. - I don’t play solitaire unless I am re-installing Windows and I need to kill time but still a cool thing to know how to do.

Here’s some tips on how to calculate faster using math shortcuts.

9) Learn how to remove a wheel from a Kawasaki motorcycle. - This could be applied to probably any Japanese sport bike.

10) Learn how to jailbreak your iPhone 3G! - Yes, every iPhone can be jailbroken for more fun.

Well, that’s all folks for now, check out the HOWTO video site for more!

Wow, here’s Clorox Toilet Bleach substitute that will make your toilet cleaner while saving earth from harmful chemicals going down the drain into the ocean.

All Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner

1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda

The very simple procedure that goes along with this recipe is……Put the vinegar into the toilet bowl. Leave it be and have a cup of coffee…..give yourself say 30 minutes, so grab a magazine to read while you are sipping your coffee. Return to the toilet after you are finished reading, grad your toilet brush and dip it into the toilet. Take it out, and sprinkle some baking soda onto the brush. Scour the inside of the toilet with the brush repeating the sprinkle procedure until the baking soda is gone…..voila! Clean Toilet!

via keetsa

Here’s a really cool way to control OLEDs with Arduino.

4D Systems makes some really nice serial OLEDS. They aren’t hard to use, but the documentation for them is very scattered. This tutorial pulls together the various pieces i’ve found so that you can get up and running very quickly.

via make, Hack Page